Film: Banlieue 13 (District 13) - Dir. Pierre Morel

Dir. Pierre Morel
Banlieue 13 (District 13)
[Action/Martial Arts]







Trust the french to have a martial arts film about running away.

For those unfamiliar with the sport, Parkour, or Free Running, is a physical discipline centred around the concept of using environments, in particular urban ones, as a giant adventure playground. The only objective is to start moving and to not let anything stop you, bypassing obstacles and using the environment in unusual and inventive ways. Spectacular jumps, vaults, flips, climbing, and a host of other moves comprise the visually stunning array of options a Traceur, as the participants are known, has at their fingertips.

In 2002, Luc Besson, the french action maestro behind films like The Fifth Element and Leon hit on two very simple, very good ideas. The first was to make a buddy action movie about parkour. The second was to make a near-future film in which the french government decides to cordon off entirely the most crime ridden suburbs (or Banlieue) of Paris. The result is one of the most energetic, pacey and politically relevant films for years; an action film which is both virtuoso entertainment and satire. Some critics will doubtless dismiss the political theme as heavy handed or superfluous, but if the flick was three hours long and full of symbolism, stilted dialogue and twenty second shots of coffee cups they would probably lap it up. One of District 13's chief virtues, in fact, is it's length; a svelte seventy-something minutes. It never bores, every scene is necessary and enjoyable, and the two leads, David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli, pull off convincing and likeable performances despite being Parkour/Stunt experts, not professional actors.

The plot is simple but effective; Leito (Belle) is a good guy in a bad neighbourhood; he fights against the local drug lord, Taha (played by scriptwriter Bibi Naceri) and his right hand man, K2 (Tony D'Amorio). After killing a corrupt police officer, he finds himself in jail. Damien (Raffaelli) is a police officer charged with a desperate mission; infiltrate the now closed off District 13 and recover a stolen nuke which is primed to blow. He is assigned Leito as a reluctant guide, whose sister is being kept, drugged, by Taha, and so begins the second half of the film; a non-stop orchestra of incredible stunts and fight scenes, made all the more potent by the knowledge that this film was wirework free. To detail some of the highlights; at one point Belle slides himself effortlessly in one clean jump through a tiny window above a locked door. In another, Raffaeli jumps clean over a long casino table and kicks an assailant; again, in a smooth fluid movement. In a third, the two protagonists run straight over a moving car which then crashes spectacularly. The action is the real star of the film, and the short length keeps all the in-between sequences relevant and suspenseful.

The only criticisms I can make are that Leito's sister (Dany Verrisimo) is weakly characterised and clearly a servant of the plot, that the music is all very similar, and the final revelation, whilst clever and politically charged (the french government aren't quite that bad, but they probably would if they could) doesn't quite hang together. Otherwise, this film comes highly reccommended; it's one of the most purely exhilarating films you'll see this year.

90